No.8
Wire Competition goes international!

Can you twist
a bit of wire?

Then put your creative mind to the test and enter the Fieldays No.8
National Art Award, hosted in New Zealand by Te Awamutu Museum.

This competition is a great chance for you to showcase your creative
skills to New Zealand. There is still time to take part with 3 weeks to
go before entries are taken in on October the 17th. The competition is
open to anybody - just create a piece of art out of No. 8 wire (4mm
soft galvanized). Pick up an entry form at the Te Awamutu Museum for
further details. With no cost to enter and a $5000 prize pool - with a
$3000 first place prize - there is an added incentive to get those
creative juices flowing.

The semi-final works will then be on display at the museum from the
24th of October. Visitors will be able to vote for their favourite as
part of a Peoples Choice Award with $500 to the winning sculpture. The
exhibition coincides with the Waipa Networks Rose and Cultural Festival
and runs until the 8th December 2003.

Te Awamutu
Museum says:

"Entries and a photo of the work need to be in NZ by the 17th October
to be considered - semifinalists will be chosen from these entries and
will be contacted on the 18th/19th October 2005 - however we hadn't
geared up the competition to allow for pieces to be delivered from
outside of NZ so there is not a lot of time for pieces to be shipped
here.

"Sculptures must be in to the gallery by the 4th of Nov by the latest
for installation I expect local sculptures to be in the gallery from
the 24th of October."

Elizabeth
Berrien adds:

Artists who ship works to the event are responsible for freight
& insurance in both directions. FedEx and other shippers can
deliver works inside the deadline frame - but it'll cost. When I
shipped a work from the US to Australia earlier this year, the USPS
charged about 1/3 what UPS or FedEx would have cost.

Since works for this competition MUST be done in heavy No.8 galvanized
steel wire (in accordance with Kiwi can-do tradition), I suggest that
wirists planning to enter from abroad plan along these lines:

1) How large/small a work can I make in this size of wire?
2) What will be the approx. dimensions of the finished work?
3) What size will its packing box or crate be?
4) How much will it cost to ship the package insured, to NZ and back
again?

Which will take you back to #1)... can I make my wire sculpture even
smaller?
How small can I make it and still have something good enough to enter?

This is where the Kiwis have home-field advantage - they can make large
works, more in proportion to the size of the wire, and deliver it
themselves. It will take great innovation to create a smaller work that
still shows to advantage.